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Chrome 70 released with Windows web app support and option to disable controversial login

Submitted by Kenneth Kwok on Wed, 10/17/2018 - 07:31

From The Verge: Chrome 70, the latest version of Google’s browser, is rolling out now on Windows, Mac, and Linux computers. The update sees Google reverse some of the controversial changes it made with the last version, by allowing users to stop the browser from automatically signing into their Google account after logging into one of the search giant’s apps. Chrome 70 also brings support for Progressive Web Apps, or PWAs, on Windows.

It’s rare to see a controversial version of a web browser, but Chrome 69 was exactly that. Shortly after release, people started to notice that the browser was unexpectedly signing into their Google accounts. This functionality, which stores your browser history, bookmarks, and passwords on Google’s servers when the Sync feature is turned on (which Google prompts users to do) is a big privacy concern for many.

Buried within the settings menu of Chrome’s latest version is an option labeled “Allow Chrome sign-in,” which you can set to off if you’d rather not be automatically signed in to your Google account at the browser level. The problem, as VentureBeat notes, is that this process is opt-out rather than opt-in, meaning all Chrome users will be automatically signed into Google’s browser and likely uploading their sync data unless they specifically change this setting. Google says that automatic sign-in was enabled to help make it clear when users are logged in on a shared device.

Google has also updated Chrome’s interface to more clearly explain what’s syncing, and has changed the way the browser clears cookies so that it’ll also delete your Google service cookies along with everything else.